On an Island in the Sun

When you're on a holiday;
You can't find the words to say;
All the things that come to you;
And I want to feel it too.

-Weezer (Island in the Sun)

Just as the seasons smoothly transition from one to another (unless you live in the Midwest, or any place where there really are seasons), so too does winter ulpan transition flawlessly into spring semester.  Classes started last week, and I couldn't be more pleased.  Because I am in a program where half of my classes are with the Israeli Hebrew U students (who are on break until March 4th), three of my classes will not commence until said date.  So from now until then, I'm just kind of chillin' (kind of).  The amount of time I am in class and the amount of work that I have to do are surprisingly disproportional at the moment.

Although most of my classes only consist of weekly readings until a final paper is due at the end of the semester, in one class, the teacher has assigned seven novels along with presentations for students to choose from over the course of the semester.  Although I did not mark it as my first choice, myself and another student were the only ones who dared attempt the first novel.  This book, The Rise of David Levinsky, by Abraham Cahan, is a captivating story and could not be written more beautifully.  However, the length of the novel (370 pages) is not conducive to reading it and preparing a period-long presentation on it within a week.  Nevertheless, here I am, hard at work.

I received the novel on Tuesday, and so on Wednesday I set out for Jaffa street (the main commercial street here) to plop down at a cafe and make acquaintance with my assignment.  Sometimes, there are experiences in life that are so incredibly delicious that you bask in their delight, wishing them never to cease.  However, you acknowledge that like all other delicacies, they must come to an end and must be used sparingly in order to preserve their freshness.  Sitting down at Cafe Hillel on Jaffa street on a beautiful Wednesday morning, reading a most engaging work of fiction, all while letting the sun's rays warm me and penetrate my mood as well as keep my coffee at just the right temperature was just one of these experiences.

After making the pilgrimage to the city center, I was suddenly transported back to my summer in Madison, where I would find a seat on the balcony of Starbucks, get lost in the most pleasurable of novels, sip iced coffee, gaze down at the people that strolled up and down State St., and sense a certain gratification whenever a pedestrian entered into my bookstore down below.  Some of the greatest of life pleasures are not free, but they only cost the equivalent of a cup of coffee, a good book, and some quality thinking time.

At one point, when I let my empty stomach get the better of me, I sauntered down the street to fill my belly.  There is an outstanding falafel place where one can purchase a schwarma laffa for twenty shekels, which is a very good deal.  After chowing down, I returned to my coffee oasis, entered back into the world of 19th century Eastern European Jewry, and passively listened to an amateur guitarist strumming away across the street.

Currently, I am not as far in the book as I should be, but I have a good idea of how I will present it, so it isn't a huge worry.  Anyway, Thursday and Friday were pretty typical.  Thursday was the usual party night, nothing too exciting.  Friday, I returned to the residence of my friend Yossi Witkes for yet another delicious Shabbat meal.  The crowd, the conversation, and the food there are always top notch.

On Saturday night, we went out to dinner for my friend Rachel's birthday.  The restaurant we went to, called Eldad VeZayhoo, was very nice had a subtly German/Austrian/Hungarian feel to it.  But of course, like many things in Israel, including every English menu you will ever encounter, something was a little off.  Their music choice, while tasteful, was discernibly eclectic.  If one song was 90s grunge, the next was Jay-Z.  If one song was Israeli pop music, the next was the Rolling Stones.  To be sure, all quirks add to one's personality, and this eatery was not short on personality. Afterwards, we walked around aimlessly questing after Birman's, a Euro-style pub that we had occasioned a few weeks back.  Once there, we sat down for over an hour, chatted, celebrated, and concluded a good friend's birthday.

So here I am, on holiday, on an island in the sun, and I am enjoying every last minute of it.

Zac